


Untimely Answers

by alleycat42



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Questions, RWBY - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 12:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14308968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alleycat42/pseuds/alleycat42
Summary: What would've happen if Cinder had gotten the upper hand on Raven?





	Untimely Answers

**Author's Note:**

> Heyooo!
> 
> So this is really my first work I'm uploading! This is really exciting and nerve wracking but nonetheless!
> 
> I wrote this small little one shot because of my RWBY discord and we kinda got into an angst war and were trying to...out angst one another.   
> Needless to say it got pretty...painful. 
> 
> But this was my take on what would've happen had Cinder gotten the better of Raven and Yang arrived not too long after the incident. I did take a few liberties with Raven's character and her self image.
> 
> So I hope you enjoy and any critiques or comments are appreciated!

Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she jump down the shaft she had watched her mother go down. She betrayed them, and for what?! What did she possibly have to gain from helping Cinder? 

As Yang fell faster, she shot her half of Ember Celica in order to slow her descent. Questions continued to race through her mind as to why Raven did this. Something she had always questioned. Something she was damned determined to find out even if she had to fight her mother one on one. 

For years, Yang blamed herself. She felt inadequate as a daughter. Her father had only heard this fear once and assured her it wasn't true, that her mother abandoning their small family wasn't her fault. But Yang couldn't bring herself to accept the words that fell out from Tai’s mouth. They were empty and held no value to her. Her own mother didn't want anything to do with her. But that constant, torturous question of why was about to be answered. 

Yang landed on the ground with one final shot from her weapon and a thud. As she stood, her eyes grew wide and a small gasp of shock escaped her lips. 

In front of her, an open portal to a desert landscape was opened and an empty pedestal lay in the center. But what caught her attention was the two bodies that resided next to it. 

Yang began to run towards the door. She passed the first body and saw Vernal, the girl she had met back at her mother's camp. It was the second body that brought Yang to her knees. 

Raven sat with a gash in her side, breathing heavily as blood soaked the floor around her. Her skin was paler than normal and the wound fresh. This must've happen only mere moments before Yang arrived. 

Yang looked around her quickly for sights of Cinder, in case of an ambush, but found nothing. Turning back to Raven, red eyes met her lilac ones and a grimace face. 

“I just can't seem to get escape you these days.” Raven managed to bite out the sentence only to start coughing up blood. 

Rolling her eyes, Yang started to reach to help Raven up. “Let me help, I have someone upstairs who can..”

“No! I don't need your help!” Raven began coughing and began to shake from the blood loss. It had only been a little while when the one-eyed bitch had gotten the best of her. She was positive the knockback from her attack would’ve been enough to knock the girl into the chasm. But once she had reached the edge to seal the girl in ice, Cinder had blasted her back, driving her weapon into Raven’s side. “You idiot. You were careless” she had scolded herself, clutching her wound as Cinder retrieved the relic and disappeared into chasm she should’ve died in.

Frustrated, Yang bit back. “Oh yes, I can tell from how healthy you look.” Reaching once more, she tried to pick her mother up only to be given a weak shove off.

“Why won't you let me help you?!” Yang's eyes turned red as her anger rose. It wasn't until she noticed Raven had turned away with tears in her eyes that her own returned to their normal shade, a look of confusion taking the place of rage. 

“...I don't deserve your kindness.”

This was it. The worst timing in the world, but if she didn't ask now then Yang may never know.

“Why?” 

Raven grimaced at the question, almost looking more pained by it than the wound that resided on her. She was silent for a moment before speaking up. 

“Because I don't deserve someone as... brilliant as you trying to save someone as worthless as me.” 

“Oh so I'm brilliant now? Where was that attitude for my entire life? Where was that admiration when I went out searching for you for all those years? Where were you?!” It all fell out of Yang's mouth so quickly she couldn't contain it any longer. “Why...if I'm so brilliant, then why did you leave me? Leave us?” 

Raven turned and stared at her daughter. A pain like nothing anything physical could bring filled Ravens’ eyes. 

Raven muttered, “I wasn't adequate enough for either of you.” 

Yang's glare softened a tad at the words that escaped her mother's mouth. The same fear that had clutched at Yang's heart for her whole life, had devoured Raven for all of hers. 

“I was young, the weight of the tribe had fallen on my shoulders. I..I begged Tai to come with me when we found out about you. But he refused. Even Qrow sided with him.” A hint of anger entered her voice only to be followed but a deep cough. Yang couldn't move as she listened to what her mother had to say. 

“You would've hated me no matter what choice I made. Leaving you with Tai...with your family was the only decision that made the most sense. So that's what I did. And I detached myself. Things had already been complicated in our team, that only made things easier for me.” 

Yang processed all that she heard. She couldn't believe it. “Let me help you. We can heal you and get you back up. It doesn’t excuse all the shit that has happened. But we can..we…” Yang trailed off as her mother's hand came up to her face. As she looked at her, Ravens’ eyes had a clouded shade about them, looking as though she were in a daze. Another violent cough joined the tension in the air.

“No. This is what must be. At least...I..I got to see..” Ravens hand fell from Yang's face. 

“Mom?! Mom! No don't you dare!” Yang wailed in the open area. The leaves falling around her withered. “How dare you leave me again after all of that!” The tears ran down Yang's face as she clutched onto the hand of her mother. 

“I really did get my stubbornness from you,” Yang whispered, feeling utterly defeated; all the while, a warming, powerful sensation began to fill Yang’s body as tears landed on the hand she held.


End file.
